So I don’t have an original bone in my body, as proven by this blatant rip-off of Ken Bauer’s post of the same title and theme.

Three Decade Mark

I will turn 60 in April and so far things have turned out pretty well. I’m still here, which is an accomplishment in itself, I have a wonderful family and friends, wonderful cats, a good job that pays the bills, a house, a car, and, of course, wifi.

Of course, I’m getting on in years, there’s some creak in these old bones, it takes longer to write, my memory isn’t the razor-sharp steel trap it used to be. And sure, there are times I wish I could go back and change things, but life doesn’t work that way. But these days I feel nothing other than privileged and grateful. I treasure each moment even if I’m doing nothing more than watching pro Bowling and eating pork rinds.(*)

Obligatory Video Clip

Because-Ken-Bauer-did-it-and-anyway-it’s-a-great-song.

My first vinyl album was Trick of the Tail by Genesis. My first 8-track tape was Gord’s Gold, by Gordon Lightfoot, and my first CD was Live Rust by Neil Young. My first cassette tape was something I made myself. My first MP3 was a dump of several hundred songs. My first rap song was Television – The Drug of a Nation, which I heard through the CJSR wall speaker at the Gauntlet, and mesmerized me. The younger me was idealist and activist, the product of literature and talk radio as much as of music and subculture. The older me is still all of that but with a wider range and digital technology thrown in.

A Call for Proposals

So like Ken I created this call for proposals: “What should Stephen focus on in the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years”. Or months. Or whatever time I’ve got. I’ll keep this call for proposals wide open – should I explore some topic, create a certain work, whatever?

• Probably the easiest thing is to comment on this post – I’ll make sure the comments thing is working (note: it might not be – this is Blogger, after all).

• I can’t imaging anyone would dedicate an entire blog post to this, but of you do please let me know. I have less faith in hashtags that Ken but you can try #StephensNext60

• Or Tweet it, or whatever. You still have a couple days to use Google+, or you can reach me via Mastodon. If it’s on Facebook I won’t see it, because I’m still fighting the power after all these years.

Thank You

I’m really not very good at maintaining relationships or even in being nice to other people. I try, but I’ve always been too wrapped up in my own mind – my hopes, fears, dreams, ideas, and all the rest. But I have two rules I try to follow (and, I think, mostly succeed at): I try to leave each person better off for having met me, and I am thankful for each person I’ve ever met.

(*) I don’t actually watch pro bowling or eat pork rinds; it’s a reference to a Simpson’s episode, and in particular, one of that show’s most insightful moments.